The greening of Lehua Island

No one alive knows what the environment on Lehua Island was like before the rats and rabbits arrived. These critters began eating virtually every seed and seedling, leaving it an eroded crescent of earth, rock and cinder. But there is enough evidence to make educated guesses about what the island was like before human interference, and restoration teams will now try to recreate the prehistoric Lehua.

A supplemental environmental assessment for the restoration project has been completed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Forestry and Wildlife. It updates a 2005 environmental assessment, changing the timing of rodent control efforts to reduce threats to birds, and building on information developed during a similar program at an islet off Molokai.

Lehua is a gorgeous speck of land, even without restoration. An ancient tuff cone, it sits just north of Ni'ihau, visible on a good day from west Kaua'i, 20 miles distant. Sixteen species of seabirds use its 310 acres. Seals haul out on its rocky shelves.It is surrounded by deep, clear waters favored by dive tourists. One arm of its curved shape has a deep vertical crack that extends down into the sea. Some folks call it the Keyhole.

Multicolored corals and reef fishes cruise the steep-bottomed and sheltered arc of its bay.
But the land is mostly shades of volcanic brown. Little vegetation survives on the island.
As the environmental assessment says, it's been clear at least in the scientific literature since 1931 that rats and rabbits were the main problem. It's taken more than 70 years to move from that recognition to doing something about it.